cannabisnews.com: Police Could Be Charged in School Raid Police Could Be Charged in School Raid Posted by CN Staff on November 29, 2003 at 08:57:54 PT By Herb Frazier Of The Post and Courier Staff Source: Post and Courier Solicitor Ralph Hoisington said Friday that he will decide next week whether Goose Creek police broke any laws Nov. 5 when officers raided Stratford High School with guns drawn during a search for drugs.The solicitor said he will make that decision after reviewing a 200-page report prepared by the State Law Enforcement Division that he received this week. "If there was no legal justification for the police action, then what was done could be considered an assault and battery," Hoisington said. "I will try to get some definitive resolution of it next week," said Hoisington, adding that he will share the SLED report with the U.S. Justice Department.During the raid, which was recorded on the school's surveillance camera, 14 officers isolated 107 students in a main hallway and briefly restrained 12 to 14 students with plastic handcuffs as others cringed when three officers drew their weapons.The raid has produced a firestorm of protest from some parents and civil rights groups while others have supported it. Snipped: Complete Article: http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/charged.htmSource: Post and Courier, The (Charleston, SC)Author: Herb Frazier Of The Post and Courier Staff Published: Saturday, November 29, 2003 Copyright: 2003 Evening Post Publishing Co.Website: http://www.charleston.net/Contact: letters postandcourier.comRelated Articles & Web Site:ACLUhttp://www.aclu.org/Shooting, Stratford Raid Draw FBI http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17849.shtmlPre-emptive Strike Hits High Schools http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17846.shtmlRally Supports Goose Creek Principal http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17802.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #12 posted by FoM on December 04, 2003 at 14:03:02 PT Update on Raid from The Associated Press Prosecutor Passes Drugs Sweep Investigation To Attorney General Thursday, December 4, 2003 By Bruce Smith, Associated Press GOOSE CREEK, S.C. -- Prosecutor Ralph Hoisington has asked state Attorney General Henry McMaster to review the investigation into a drug sweep by police at a high school to determine whether officers violated the law. Hoisington made the announcement Thursday after reviewing a 200-page report on a drug sweep in which police officers drew guns as high school students were ordered to the floor. Hoisington also has requested the State Law Enforcement Division share the results of its investigation with the U.S. attorney's office and FBI to determine whether federal criminal violations occurred in the Nov. 5 search at Stratford High School that attracted national media attention. "While I am confident the goals of the Goose Creek Police Department were appropriate, the actual methods employed by certain officers were ill-advised at best. My review of these surveillance tapes and witness interviews left me with questions and concerns regarding the actions of several officers involved in the intervention," Hoisington said in a prepared statement. Videotape from surveillance cameras showed students on the floor while officers with guns drawn looked for drugs. Police checked 107 students and briefly restrained about a dozen. Fourteen officers and a drug dog took part in the sweep at the school in this bedroom community of 29,000 residents 20 miles northwest of Charleston. Some students and parents praised school officials for taking a tough stand on drugs. Others were angry about the use of force and called for the dismissal of Stratford High Principal George McCrackin. School officials asked police in after receiving reports of marijuana sales on the campus. Police said the dog sniffed drug residue on 12 book bags but found no drugs. No one was arrested. Hoisington later asked the State Law Enforcement Division to investigate possible police misconduct in the sweep during which some students were handcuffed. Agents compiled a 200-page report, which the prosecutor received last week. The Rev. Jesse Jackson planned to visit neighboring North Charleston on Thursday night for what he said is a rally against police violence. The rally is in response to the drug sweep as well as last month's fatal shooting in North Charleston of a mentally ill man. Police said they had to fire to subdue the man, who stabbed an officer with a knife. The officer was wearing a protective vest and was not injured. [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by mayan on November 30, 2003 at 03:55:19 PT BUDSNAXZ... I believe you are right. I didn't notice the photo of him getting put down. Apparently, according to the article from the link below, more than ten percent of Stratford High's student body is enrolled in the school's ROTC program. Sorry, my mistake.Gunpoint police raid at South Carolina school: http://www.wsws.org/articles/2003/nov2003/raid-n12_prn.shtml [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by BUDSNAXZ on November 29, 2003 at 20:26:09 PT Not a Military Man People keep trying to alude to a military man being there and they just don't see that it is just a kid in an ROTC uniform. The pictures show him getting put down too. Don't try to make it any more sensational as it already is. [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by mayan on November 29, 2003 at 19:25:35 PT Once Again... for those who my not have seen this. The link below has many pictures of the raid. Scroll down a bit and you will see what appears to be a black man in a militay officer's uniform. He is also kneeling in the very top photo and appears to be participating in the raid. Did he just happen to be there at that time and decide to join in? Was the U.S. military somehow involved in this raid? Why don't any of the official mainstream news accounts mention his obvious presence and participation? Something is up here.Armed Police Invade High School,No Drugs Found: http://www.thememoryhole.org/policestate/stratford-raid.htm [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by john wayne on November 29, 2003 at 15:17:42 PT "could be" are the operative words in this headline.Now see the police chief sitting comfortably back in his chair and saying "and that's the end of that."The school lockdowns won't stop. They won't even slow down. After the "outrage" to this one has blown over, the cops involved will be invited to other school districts to give their SWAT teams pointers. (Rule #1: don't forget to turn off the cameras.) [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by freedom fighter on November 29, 2003 at 12:13:55 PT Another raid! PARKERSBURG - An impromptu lockdown at Parkersburg High School resulted in one drug citation and kept students and teachers locked in their rooms for about an hour Thursday afternoon. Parkersburg High administrators accompanied seven police dogs and 21 officers as they swept about a quarter of the classrooms at the school and a student parking lot. Teachers were told to lock classroom doors and keep students in their classes until told otherwise. Students in the hallways were sent to nearby offices or classrooms until the end of the lockdown was announced. "It is tough when you lock a school down," said Principal Ralph Board. "We thought it was important to send a message to students and the community that we are trying to have the safest environment possible here." http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n1836/a03.html?999AlvinCool, there's another one.JURORS ACQUIT EX-OFFICER IN DALLAS' FAKE-DRUG CASE Delapaz May Get Job Back; Federal Inquiry Continues Fired Dallas narcotics Detective Mark Delapaz walked out of a federal courtroom Tuesday vowing to regain his police badge after jurors in his federal civil-rights trial found him not guilty of lying about bogus drug arrests that sent innocent people to jail. Jurors deliberated for more than five hours before reaching a unanimous not-guilty verdict on six federal charges that could have sent him to prison for 10 years. http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n1832/a09.html?999There's no Justice in this country.ff [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by Nuevo Mexican on November 29, 2003 at 12:11:24 PT bush is a turkey! and watching him on TV can make you sick! The result is called 'chronically depressed'.'Police stage terror attack on high school students' should've been the original headline when the story first broke. I like seeing a headline that says 'Police could be charged in school raid', Rare these days a headline doesn't spin the story favoring bush, terror, bush, more terror, blah, blah. blah....or perhaps it is intended to make us feel as though they will be held accountable, and most likely that won't happen.Tells me some journalists' are waking up, or at least the headline writers are emboldened to state the truth.Why nothing bush says should be believed, and thus, 90% of what you hear or see is complete fabrication. Carl Rove style. The 911 attack by bush on America is detailed in this wonderful UQ Wire: Mariani Vs Bush (Full Amended Complaint) (Philadelphia, PA – 11/26/03) - Philip J. Berg, Esquire, announced today that he, attorney for Ellen Mariani, wife of Louis Neil Mariani, who died when United Air Lines flight 175 was flown into the South Tower of the World Trade Center on 9-11 at a news conference regarding the filing of a detailed Amended Complaint in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on 11/26/03 in the case of Mariani vs. Bush et al that he is alleging President Bush and officials including, but not limited to Cheney, Ashcroft, Rumsfeld and Feinberg that they: 1. had knowledge/warnings of 911 and failed to warn or take steps to prevent; 2. have been covering up the truth of 911; and 3. have therefore violated the laws of the United States; and 4. are being sued under the Civil RICO Act.The full amended complaint follows…http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0311/S00224.htmOur great reporter Helen Thomas nails bush:Dictators Should Be Only Ones Shutting Down Media Broadcastshttp://www.thebostonchannel.com/helenthomas/2667834/detail.htmlWrite, email or fax Congress:http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home/ [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by AlvinCool on November 29, 2003 at 10:54:27 PT nothin Why anyone thinks anything is going to happen from this I don't know. The only time I can ever remember a cop getting in any trouble was when they sodomized that guy in NY. But what happened when an immigrant pulled his id and got shot about 40 times? Nothing. When a black kid ran from police and they shot him? Nothing. Where I live a cop crossed the median with his patrol car and hit/killed a man on a motorcycle because he had arrested him earlier and figured he escaped. He didn't. What happened? Nothing. And the cop that put a shotgun on the 13 year old during a drug raid and claimed the gun just went off? Nothing. Give the parents some tax money.The bottom line is unless the crime is horrible and henious a cop can do anything he/she wants and guess what will happen? NothingAnd you are right about the whitewash, but then again, it's to save the children. Of course the real question is who are we supposed to save them from? [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by RasAric on November 29, 2003 at 10:05:57 PT I vote for assault charges at least... These pigs need to have permanent criminal records, along with a lengthy prison sentence. If these pigs don't get charged you can count on this setting precedence for a new 'safety procedure' when looking for drugs. Either way, this case will be key in showing Americans where this country is going with regard to civil rights. If they are not charged this could contribute greatly to the beginning of a new uprising. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by jose melendez on November 29, 2003 at 10:05:13 PT poetic justice from:http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n1844/a07.html?397" . . . workers of the world unite: Smoke up, and lose the will to fight. " Pubdate: Sat, 29 Nov 2003 Source: Globe and Mail (Canada) Copyright: 2003, The Globe and Mail Company Contact: letters globeandmail.ca Website: http://www.globeandmail.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168 Author: John Allemang assault and battery (or, Prohibition: Same as it Ever Was) [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by FoM on November 29, 2003 at 10:03:15 PT Max Flowers I don't understand this raid either. This would not be tolerated anywhere I have lived. I just don't get it. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by Max Flowers on November 29, 2003 at 10:00:06 PT Typical understatement, media whitewash "During the raid, which was recorded on the school's surveillance camera, 14 officers isolated 107 students in a main hallway and briefly restrained 12 to 14 students with plastic handcuffs as others cringed when three officers drew their weapons."They didn't JUST do the above which is so gently worded---they forced students down to the floor, task force raid style, in the manner they are only allowed to do with suspects who are being arrested via warrant or are in some way posing a grave threat to the officers, intimidated them with their weapons, terrorized them with shouting and dogs, and in general subjugated them at gunpoint, illegally searching them (if they so much as patted their pants or had a dog sniff them).All of the above is indeed illegal and unconstitutional where there is no warrant, no specific suspect, no probable cause for a crime they suspected was happening at that moment by specific person(s) (and there was NO such information, only a general suspicion).If I were one of those students (or their attorney) I would be drooling at the thought of the huge settlement I'd be negotiating because the whole thing is extremely illegal and those cops were caught dead-to-rights so to speak.MF [ Post Comment ] Post Comment